Happy, Smiley, Half Term

This  week has flown by. It has been a wonderful half term, made even better because my eldest had a week off as well so we all got to spend some time together.

We went to stay with a friend in her beautiful home in Lyme Regis and were thoroughly spoiled as she is the best hostess. We were fed with gorgeous food and lounged around in the sun (yes sun!!). She has two lovely boys and the sweetest dog, so the children were very happy and we had the occasional trip into Lyme, mostly to visit the Town Mill Bakery and Susie Cole (so I was happy!).

After staying in such a beautiful and immaculate home I came back to my shabby chic house, the emphasis being on the shabby part, and decided that I really needed to get my house in order. It is a never ending problem, with the career I have, that my house is often cluttered, disorganised and sometimes chaotic. I dream of having a well ordered house with everything having a place and the 'less is more' ethos so that  just a selection of my favourite things are own show. I came home determined to do something about it and get a little order in my home.

Well Friday was a whirl of house cleaning, laundry and supermarket shopping to restock the bare pantry and by Friday evening I was feeling pretty happy with myself, so much so that I decided to bunk off from my new Domestic Goddess role and visit the SMILE exhibition!

The exhibition features 13 different makers working in wood, textiles, pottery, metal and ceramics with the same narrative - Smile. 

Two of the artists featured are Janet Bolton and Julie Arkell.  I have attended 5 of Janet's workshops and will be doing a two day workshop with Julie in the Summer so this exhibition was a must for me.

Lucy Casson's metal and fabric characters are just delightful

The little people working on this chair reminded me of Borrowers.

 

Craig  Mitchell's ceramic pieces are exquisite and humorous

Lindsey Mann's amazing jewellery, each with instructions for use

Adorable sculptures by Abbott and Ellwood.  I especially liked the Lost Adults tent!

Janet Bolton's work was a joy to see, as ever.  I could not photograph the textile pictures as the sun was shining brightly on them and they were behind glass.

 

I was delighted to see her new work, featuring small objects placed in boxes. These 3D  pieces are a new departure for her and one I was pleased to see, not least because I had seen the small toy animals before and knew that she had bought them in Honiton, en route to our course at the Cowslip Workshops. It was so nice to see them having a starring role!

 

Last but by no means least, Juie Arkell's whimsical characters.

 

Just divine!  I can't wait to meet her.

The exhibition is on at the gallery in Frome until 20th March and then it travels around the UK.  Do try and catch it if you can. If you aren't able to, I hope you have enjoyed these images.

On our way to Frome we have to pass through the town of Shepton Mallet.  There is a certain shop there that I have wanted to visit ever since it opened over a year ago now.

 

Yes it's the wonderful Nostalgia at No 1, run by my friend Niki.  

I haven't managed to get there before as I usually go to the Shepton Mallet flea market on a Sunday when Niki is having a well-earned day off, actually not a day off but a day sourcing new stock!

It was everything I thought it would be and more. Niki has such exquisite taste and has filled her shop with her beautiful and unusual finds as well as her own gorgeous creations.  I was spoiled for choice!  

The way everything is displayed is just mouthwatering and, in addition to her good taste, you can see that she has a background in shop display.  If you haven't been already, do go, you will be so pleased you did.

 

So a lovely week, I'm sure you'll agree?  What did you do?

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Home Improvements

My bathroom is one of my favourite rooms. I recently added a small bookshelf, (as certain members like to relax with a book whilst on the throne!), which I bought for £5 at a bootsale and painted with Cath Kidston's furniture paint in the shade 'Bunny's Ear'. I adore this shade, it's a soft bluey grey. Once I put it in the room I sat and looked at the other pine furniture in the room and thought how lovely they would look in Bunny's Ear. So yesterday I spent the day painting.

This is the result...






Fresher and more coastal I think.

A quick request, I am thinking of putting a panel of Cath Kidston's Boats wallpaper on the door of the toiletries cupboard but do not want to buy a whole roll. Has anyone got any spare that they could sell me a metre of?

Whilst we are in my bathroom let me show you my Janet Bolton picture and my two Janet Bolton-inspired pictures in situ.




.......and this lovely picture, which was actually 3 cards, made by this clever lady that I bought in Port Isaac on holiday and had framed.


Whilst all that was going on I was waiting for the arrival of my new drawers, yes more! In fact it was because of the imminent arrival of my haberdashery drawers that the painted started as I had to make room for this huge piece of furniture. This meant shifting things around and the whole house exploded into chaos!

Anyway, back to the drawers, they arrived this morning, very dusty, cobwebby and with remnants of old sellotape on the glass fronted drawers.

I was contacted by the seller of these drawers through my website asking if I would be interested in buying them. They had been in storage for many years. Well you can imagine my answer!





I set to work cleaning them up. Polishing and cleaning all 32 of the glass fronts. It has taken me the best part of today and I am only half way through.




I have lined each drawer with vintage wallpaper before filling them with fabric. A time consuming but very satisfying job!

Here they are part way through. I have put all the fabric boxes and drawers on top ready for my Open House in October.



and moved the Sylko cotton reel drawers to the top of the other bank of drawers.



I'm getting there, slowly but surely, but having just bought 4 more pots of Bunny's Ear paint I fear that it is not the end of my furniture painting! Pin It